The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program by the inventor, Michael Farrow. The objective of this program was to produce improved flower colors, and compact, refined plant growth habits. The open pollination was conducted in 2004 at a nursery in Earleville, Md. This new variety, hereinafter referred to as ‘FARROWPJRF’, was discovered and selected at the same nursery in Earleville, Md. during 2008. The female parent is Pieris japonica ‘Dorothy Wyckoff’, unpatented. The male parent is unidentified.
After identifying the new variety as a potentially interesting selection, softwood cuttings were taken at the nursery in Earleville, Md., then taken to a commercial nursery in Grand Haven, Mich. for rooting in 2008. The inventor continued controlled testing and propagation, assessing stability of the unique characteristics of this variety. Ten generations have been reproduced and have shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type. First public access to plants of the variety occurred during August of 2018 in the United States. This offer came directly or indirectly from the inventor, qualifying for the exception allowed under 102(b). Previous to this sale, although the variety may have been publicized in print, plants were not available to the public for propagation.